


They Say Time Heals All Wounds

by Miffy



Series: Blue Skies Are Coming [5]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-18 13:49:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8164109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miffy/pseuds/Miffy
Summary: Katniss and Peeta’s relationship ended in a hard and painful breakup. Katniss believes it was for the best and that she’s over him, but then their paths unexpectedly cross and it reminds her of what she has lost.But maybe not all is lost?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Carrie Underwood's song "Good in Goodbye". 
> 
> Apologies for any mistakes, but I hope it'll entertain you nonetheless :)

 

Katniss is walking down the street with Gale, his hand on her lower back, when she hears something she hasn’t in the last three years. And yet, she recognises the sound immediately. It’s a laugh, from a _certain someone_. The laugh is loud, warm, full with love and mischief, and it sounds so _happy_.

_Peeta._

It’s so different from the last time Katniss saw him. Angry tears in his blue eyes, the door slamming behind him and his parting words _‘I never want to see you again!’_ filling the air around her and leaving her broken.

Katniss turns her head slightly, her curiosity overruling her rational side that’s questioning if it’s a wise decision to take a peek at Peeta.

He looks just like she remembers, only older. Curls still tousled and shining as brightly as the sun, skin still creamy and glowing, shoulders still broad and strong. Katniss wonders what he’s doing in town, the last she heard, he packed his bags and moved away.

Peeta is walking next to a gorgeous blonde and Katniss recognises her immediately. It’s Delly, his ex, the one they constantly fought about. Apparently she’s not his ex any longer, judging by the way they’re smiling at each other and the one-year old girl Peeta’s carrying. The girl, his daughter, looks a lot like him with her beautiful creamy-toned skin and hair just as fair as her dad’s. Katniss knew that Peeta wanted to have kids of his own someday, but she’s surprised it’s already someday. He was always very vocal about getting his PhD first and he’s only 25 now.

But Peeta looks good – happy and carefree. Time’s been sweet to him and Katniss is happy about that. He deserves happiness, and everything else she failed to give him.

When they broke up she was devastated, but she knew it was for the right reasons. They were both busy with school, he was starting with his Master’s Degree and Katniss was going to be a senior in college. They also had a lot of issues they couldn’t work through. Katniss didn’t trust him with other girls (especially Delly) and Peeta always kept her at arm’s length, afraid she was going to cut and run, just like she’d done in her previous relationships.

It took Katniss a while to get over him and she’d been afraid that life would punish her for breaking Peeta’s heart. But she’d broken her own as well, so life had been kind enough to have mercy on her. Sometimes, Katniss still misses him. Their relationship wasn’t all bad, it had harboured a lot of good, a lot of love, as well.

But seeing Peeta now makes her realise that sometimes there is good in goodbye. He has a family now, a beautiful daughter, and Katniss has a job she loves and she has a few upcoming singing gigs. Katniss is really successful in her field and she just started dating Gale, her oldest friend.

Life’s been good, but seeing Peeta hits her like a ton of bricks.

Memories of the two of them together – laughing, going on dates, having amazing sex, making dinner and breakfast together, talking until the sun comes up – all flash through her mind. But also the fights, the jealousy, the slamming doors, the tears and the unavoidable breakup, fill her thoughts.

Feelings of longing, a little jealousy about him starting a family with someone else, and sadness that she had to miss him for the last three years, start within her, but are all being suppressed.

 _There’s good in goodbye_ , she repeats to herself. _We’re both better off without the other._

Before Peeta notices Katniss from the other side of the street, she and Gale enter the shoe store her boyfriend wants to buy a new pair of shoes from.

 

 **––** ⭐⭐⭐ **––**

 

Gale leaves after dinner and she’s secretly relieved, she needs a moment to herself. They say goodbye with a kiss, just like every time. And just like every time it lacks the heat and passion she felt when she kissed Peeta. _That’s a good thing_ , Katniss reminds herself, _because that’s what destroyed you two_.

Katniss takes a shower and puts on her pyjama’s, unable to shake her thoughts of Peeta. Seeing him brought the questions back that had plagued her for almost two years after the break up. _What if we hadn’t broken up? What if we had worked things out? Would we still be together now? Would we be happy? What if he was The One?_

In a moment of weakness, Katniss finds herself in front of her closet, pushing back the old sweaters that hide a shoebox containing old memories. Old memories of Peeta.

Katniss had been so strong, she hadn’t opened the box in almost a year, but the urge to look at the souvenirs of her relationship with Peeta is too strong now. According to Johanna it had been very unhealthy to keep the items and her friend had advised her to throw all of the stuff away, to burn the box and its contents, but Katniss never had the heart to do so.

Taking off the lid, Katniss' eyes wander over the small objects. She grabs the photos first and looks at them. The first picture is one of the two of them at Prim’s 18th birthday party, she’s sitting on Peeta’s lap and both of them are holding a beer, all smiles and happiness. The second one is a selfie of the two of them while they’re out on a hike; Peeta is kissing Katniss' cheek and she smiles brightly into the camera. The last photo is a picture taken by his brother Ryder when they’d build a snowman during Christmas break. Peeta and Katniss both have an arm around the snowman and Katniss is grinning happily, her wet, raven coloured locks framing her face. Peeta’s smiling just as broadly, cheeks red because of the cold.

Katniss puts the photos back into the old shoebox and carefully takes out the lighter he left at her place, but never got back. She was planning to give it back to him, use it as an excuse to go see him again, but after the way they left things _(‘I never want to see you again!’_ ), she’d kept it. Katniss wanted to hold onto this last piece of him.

She finds out that the lighter still works.

The next thing that Katniss brings out into the light is a scrap of paper.

It’s a small note Peeta left her once, that she put into her wallet for safekeeping, before they ended things and the note ended up in the shoebox. She can’t even remember exactly when he’d left her the note in their year long relationship, only that it had brought her so much joy.

Now it brings her pain and regret.

 

_Birdy,_

_You looked so peaceful asleep_

_(so different from when you’re awake :P),_

_I didn’t want to wake you._

_I’ll see you tonight at the bar._

_I love you,_

_Peeta_ ♡

 

He even scribbled a tiny heart next to his name.

The last item is a silver necklace Katniss got from Peeta for her birthday. On the chain hangs a pendent, a small silver bird, and it’s gorgeous. Peeta used to call her that, Birdy, as a term of endearment. Peeta loved it when she sang for him, so she did it a lot - he always told her she was even more talented than the nightingales that stopped their singing to listen to hers. She hasn’t worn the necklace since Peeta walked out of her life and Katniss knows she’ll never wear it again, but she’ll never throw it away either. The beautiful silver bird is doomed to collect dust forever.

Eventually all the tokens go back into the shoebox and the box goes back to hiding in its secret spot.

Katniss is very busy reminding herself that next to all those good memories, there are bad ones as well.

She remembers exactly why she has an incomplete set of plates (she threw one at the wall in a fit of rage when they were fighting about Delly), why the both of them are banned from one of the local movie theatres (Peeta got into a huge fight with Katniss about her commitment issues when she told him she wasn’t ready to meet his father. When one of the employees kindly asked them to tone it down, Peeta yelled at him to _‘Mind your own fucking business!’_ ), and why cookie dough ice-cream still makes her sick – it was her comfort food after the breakup and she practically lived on it for two months.

Now the treat reminds Katniss of heartbreak and the breakup with Peeta, and that’s a needless reminder she wants to live without.

Seeing Peeta and going down memory lane has left her so exhausted, that she’s too tired to stop her tears from falling.

Katniss falls asleep with the thought that it was for the best. They’re both so happy now..

 

* * *

 

 

Gale comes over a couple of days later, asking her if she has time to talk. She hasn’t seen him since they had dinner at her place, but she knows what it’s about and she agrees.

‘I saw the look in your eyes when you saw Peeta on the street the other day’ Gale begins, when they sit down on her couch. Katniss' eyes widen at his confession, she’d expected something else, before her gaze drops to her lap in shame. She didn’t know he’d seen Peeta as well or noticed Katniss staring at her ex-boyfriend.

Katniss hides her face in the palms of her hands before she speaks. ‘I’m sorry..’ she whispers.

‘Hey’ Gale softly squeezes her shoulder to get her attention and when she looks up at him, he gives her a gentle smile. ‘To be honest, I knew you weren’t over him – even if you keep denying it’ he quickly adds, when Katniss opens her mouth to, indeed, deny it. ‘And the thing is, it doesn’t bother me that you aren’t over him. At least not in the way I should be, as your boyfriend. It bothers me as your _friend_ , because you still want to be with Peeta, but you’re not doing anything about it. I love you Katniss, but not in the way I’m supposed to’

‘I know..’ she sighs.

‘And I don’t think you love me like that either’ he adds and she shakes her head, before apologising again. ‘It’s not your fault, or mine, we just don’t belong together’ Gale pauses for a second before he continues. ‘We both hoped we’d work because we’ve known each other for forever and we got pushed into this by of our parents, but it’s just not working. We don’t have that magic that I had with Madge or that you had with Peeta’

‘Peeta and I did _not_ have something magical’ Katniss protests, laughing a humourless laugh.

‘You did’ Gale sighs and he sounds disappointed. ‘But you were both too stubborn and too proud to admit it, and apologise..’

‘It doesn’t matter now, Gale. You saw him too’ Katniss says sorrowful. ‘Peeta’s over me, he has a kid with Delly.. He’s happy and I’m not going to screw that up because I’m an idiot. I refuse to be a homewrecker, Gale’

Gale soothingly rubs her back. ‘He loved you Katniss, everyone could see it, even from ten miles away. If he’s found happiness after you, you’ll find it too’

‘You think so?’ she asks in a hopeful voice.

‘I know so’ he assures her with a smile and he gives her a hug.

 

* * *

 

 

Nothing changes between Gale and Katniss. They go back to how they were before they started dating – best friends, as thick as thieves. Their parents are incredibly disappointed - they really were counting on being one big family soon, joined by a marriage between Katniss and Gale. But the two in question are relieved; happy that they’re just friends again.

Katniss realises it’s time to move on completely from Peeta. She acknowledges that a part of her still held hope that, one day, they’d get back together. Now she’s trying to abandon that hope, by working hard at the environmental engineer firm she works at, focussing on her own music, spending time with her friends, and going on a date every now and then.

Katniss really is trying the best she can, but all of that doesn’t prepare her for when she bumps into Peeta himself.

Katniss is at the grocery store, doing some last minute shopping, when she notices someone out of the corner of her eye stopping in their tracks. It catches her attention and she turns around. She’s caught off guard when she sees who it is and her breath hitches in her throat.  

_Peeta._

He looks amazing, in his Legend of Zelda shirt, glasses, and sweatpants, holding a shopping basket that seems to be filled with pasta ingredients.

Peeta seems just as shocked as she feels, and Katniss notices his knuckles whiten around the handle of his basket. ‘Birdy..’ he breathes. He surprises himself by saying it, if the colour draining from his face is an indication.

Before Katniss can open her mouth, he turns around and leaves her standing in the snack aisle.

Gale's words rush back to her. _‘You had something magical, but you were both too stubborn and too proud to admit it, and apologise..’_

Watching Peeta leave, again, makes her realise that Gale was right. Peeta brought her the greatest happiness she’d ever felt and she let him walk out of that door. Even if she’s lost her chance, she needs him to know how sorry she is.

‘I’m sorry for-’ Katniss sobs, when she comes back from the shock, but he’s already gone.

She’s too late.

Again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr, I'm [goldenlotusdreamer](http://goldenlotusdreamer.tumblr.com/) \- let's be friends! :D 
> 
> Comments give us poor fic writers life, so please don't be shy :) What did you think/feel? xx
> 
>  
> 
> ~~Maybe a part 2?~~


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are my own. I hope you'll like it :)

_‘Why were you with her?!’ Katniss screamed, having passed the point of sanity a while back. But she couldn’t help it. It was her greatest fear, her greatest weakness. ‘Are you cheating on me?’_

_‘Are you serious right now Katniss?!’ Peeta looked both shocked and about to burst out in laughter, and it angered her even more. Katniss could already feel the angry tears start to form in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away._

_‘Yes’_

_‘Jesus Kat!’_

_‘Then why did I have to hear it from_ Johanna _?! Why didn’t you tell me yourself, huh?!’_

_‘I ran into her on the street’ Peeta said incredulous._

_‘That’s not a no!’ Katniss insisted, still glaring. She knew she was being unfair and irrational, but her emotions were all over the place. Katniss was so angry, she wanted to hurt him just like he’d hurt her. Even if he hadn’t done anything to deserve her wrath._ Yet _. Katniss had been burned before, and it had scared her. Scared that Peeta would hurt her just like Thom had, but if Peeta would, she wouldn’t be strong enough to overcome that pain._

_‘Jesus Katniss!’ Peeta yelled. ‘I ran into her on the fucking street! I’m not fucking her behind your back!_

_‘Do you want to?!’_

_‘Why do you always bring Delly into our relationship?’_

_‘Because you never deny it!’ she lied, of course he had._

_‘Do you even want to be with me?’ he asked, his voice laced with venom, after a beat of silence. Katniss could see the resentment and fear start to form in his sky blue eyes._

_‘Do_ you _even want to be with_ me _?’ she threw back, yelling._

_He looked at her like she was insane. ‘Not if you don’t trust me and keep poisoning what we have with your ridiculous issues!’_

_‘_ My _ridiculous issues?!’ she yelled. ‘_ You’re _the one with a clingy ex and the trust issues!’_

 _Peeta let out a long, humourless laugh. ‘_ Trust issues _?! You’re the one with the trust issues,_ Birdy _’_ _It’s the way he said it, that made her heart ache. Not as the endearment he used it as, but as an insult. It hurt. So she lashed out._

 _‘Really? Because I can’t go fucking anywhere without you tagging along and breathing down my neck! You don’t even trust me to go to the fucking store on my own! Your fears are suffocating me and I can’t fucking_ breathe _because of_ you _!’_

_Peeta looked at Katniss like she’d slapped him. She reasoned that would’ve been better than saying that his presence suffocated her. Peeta balled his hands into trembling fists and send poisoned daggers to her with his eyes. ‘I should’ve never done this with you. I always knew you were a scared little girl trying to use people—‘_

_‘Get out!’ she yelled, cutting him off, and that took him by surprise. This wasn’t the first fight they’d had, but it would be the first one to end like this one just had. With one of them yelling at the other to leave, indicating they were done. That they’d reached the point of no return and that it was over. ‘Get. Out’ Katniss repeated, absolutely fuming._

_‘If I leave now, I’m not coming back’ he warned._

_‘I’m counting on it’ she bit._

_They returned to their little staring contest, silently glaring at each other for a moment. Peeta was waiting for her to take back her words, but she wasn’t backing down. Neither was he. Pride would be their downfall. ‘This was a mistake._ You’re _a mistake.. I’m so done’ he said, before turning around._

 _‘Good! I am too!’ she screamed._ Don’t say it- _‘I can already feel the oxygen returning to my lungs!’_

_Peeta looked back at her when he’d opened the door. She could see the tears in his blue eyes. ‘I never want to see you again!’ he spit before he slammed the door behind him._

_The air around Katniss was filled with his parting words and the sound of the slamming door._ Oh my God, what the fuck just happened?

 _Peeta’s absence brought something that was too silent, and the only thing that broke it, was Katniss’s loud, irregular breathing pattern and her wild beating heart. The heart that was slowly breaking. ‘Peeta..’ his name left her lips as a whisper, as a prayer._ What have I done?

_Katniss just stared at her door, praying he’d come back, praying her feet would start working again, her eyesight blurry because of the tears that had started falling. Her trembling knees failed her and she collapsed on the floor in a sobbing mess. He never came back and that was expected._

O God, O God, O God.. What have I done?

 

* * *

 

 

‘Peeta..’ Katniss whispers softly, and her feet start moving on their own account. She’s practically running through the store to catch up with him, momentarily forgetting the basket full with groceries in her hands, which, obviously, doesn’t go unnoticed by the store’s employees.

‘Miss!’ Katniss hears someone saying multiple times, but the words are lost on her, until a firm grip around her arm stops her from chasing Peeta down the street. ‘I need you to pay for those groceries, Miss’

It takes Katniss a second to realise what the girl is saying, her thoughts still full of Peeta. ‘Of course’ she breaths, after emptying her head of her ex. She apologises and walks to the cash register to pay. As she hands the cashier the money to pay for her wine and cheese, she promises herself that the next time she sees Peeta, she’ll make use of the opportunity and tell him what he deserves to hear.

Katniss also promises herself that there _will_ be a next time.

 

–– ⭐⭐⭐ ––

 

‘Babe I need to tell you something’ Johanna says, all seriousness. Concern is swimming in her brown eyes. There’s something about Johanna’s body language; the tense shoulders, lips in a firm line, the look in her eyes, that worries Katniss. Something is wrong. Katniss sits a little straighter, unconsciously bracing herself for the blow she’s afraid she’ll receive. She looks expectantly at Johanna and the brunette continues. ‘Peeta is back in town’

A beat of silence follows and Johanna looks prepared for a very emotional reaction from Katniss. ‘I know’ she exhales, calmly.

It’s the one answer Johanna didn’t expect. ‘ _What_? How?’

‘I saw him a couple of days before the breakup with Gale. And I ran into Peeta at the store today’ she admits.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Johanna demands, shocked.

‘I was trying to deal with it’ Katniss answers quietly, and she fills their wineglasses with the wine she purchased that afternoon. ‘He looked good. Happy. So that’s— _good_ ’ Katniss concludes, nodding to herself. ‘He got back together with Delly. They have a—‘ her voice trembles for a moment. ‘a— _daughter_ ’

Johanna looks like she’s about to fall of her chair in surprise. ‘ _He has a kid_?!’ she shouts. ‘Holy crap!’

‘Yes..’ Katniss confirms, before gulping down half of her glass.

‘Holy crap..’ Johanna repeats.

‘How did you know he’s back?’ Katniss asks tentatively.

Johanna swallows a gulp of wine and Katniss finishes hers. ‘Saw him at a bar. We both pretended we didn’t see each other’ her friend answers.

Katniss doesn’t know what to say, so she just nods and refills her wineglass.

‘How are you dealing with this?’ Johanna asks.

She shrugs. ‘Trying to. Don't really know how, so I just keep moving forward’ she confesses with a weak smile, before her gaze drops to her wineglass. ‘I’m glad he’s happy though. Gives me hope I can find that, too, one day’ she takes another gulp.

‘Babe, you’re awesome. You will’ Johanna assures her with a smile.

‘I do want to talk to him though’ Katniss says. ‘Tell him I’m sorry for what I said. He deserves to know it were all lies drenched in bullshit..’

‘You sure?’ Johanna asks and when Katniss nods, the brunette continues. ‘Because you know I can figure out in two seconds where the guy lives’

 

* * *

 

 

It took Johanna about a day to find out Peeta's new adress. It can really come in handy to have a cop as a best friend.

A week of contemplating follows, after Katniss receives his address, before she finds herself knocking on Peeta’s door. Her heart is beating wildly in her chest and her palms are sweaty. Doubt creeps in, where certainty lived a moment ago. Maybe she shouldn’t have gone to him, Peeta probably doesn’t want to see her. Maybe she should’ve just send him the letter she wrote instead. Even if Peeta won’t slam the door in her face, he probably has a million better things to do than to hear her belated apology..

Before she can talk herself out of it and just drop the letter off that’s safely in her purse, he has opened the door.

Peeta’s standing right in front of her. All strong muscles wrapped in creamy skin, small freckles decorating his face and unruly blond curls. And if she would ever doubt if it actually was him, the glasses are a dead giveaway. _Damn, that Delly is a lucky girl…_

‘Hi’ she whispers. Peeta just looks at her, frozen in shock - she can’t even tell for sure if he’s breathing.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asks, calm, collected. Katniss is sweating like a pig and he only seems surprised. But she counts her blessings; he hasn’t slammed the door in her face yet or told her to fuck off.

‘To tell you that I’m sorry’ she answers.

He just stares at her and it makes her feel uncomfortable. Peeta always had the ability to read her like an open book and it seems like he hasn’t lost that skill. ‘Want to come in?’ he asks, but he seems a little unsure about actually wanting her in his home.

So, she gives him a way out. ‘Only if you have the time’

Peeta nods once and steps aside so she can come in.

He doesn’t offer her something to drink and she doesn’t ask for a water; it’s supposed to be a short visit. Katniss sits down at the kitchen table and Peeta does too. He folds his hands on the table and stays silent, except for the sound his tapping foot makes; it’s his nervous habit, she knows.

Katniss blurts out what she’s kept inside for three years, if only to end the uncomfortable silence. ‘You were right..’ she begins, in a soft tone. Fingers playing with the tassels on her scarf. ‘I was scared. I was scared that you would cheat on me or leave me, just like Thom had. I didn’t know how to deal with that fear, so I didn’t, and I took it out on you. And I’m sorry, for everything. For what I said and how I behaved.. You didn’t deserve that..’ she wipes a tear off her cheek, eyes still on her hands, before she makes herself look Peeta in his eyes. ‘I need you to know that I loved you, _so_ much, and that I didn’t mean it when I said that you suffocated me.. I’m so sorry, Peeta..’

Peeta looks away and gulps. ‘Why are you telling me this now?’ his voice is a little hoarse, and he coughs to regain his normal tone.

‘Because you deserve to know that you were loved and I was a liar… I know it’s selfish to tell you _now_ , to drag you back into our last memory, when you’re finally happy. And I’m happy that you’re happy, but I need to move on now..’ a second and a third tear escape her and this time she lets them fall. ‘Our breakup was really rough for me and—‘

‘You think it wasn’t for me?!’ he blurts out, upset. There are so many emotions swimming in his blue eyes, that it overwhelms her. Anger, disbelieve, pain; to name a few. ‘You don’t know shit about our breakup! I was fucking depressed Katniss; I was absolutely wrecked. I almost dropped out of school..’ his hands travel through his curls, leaving them even more dishevelled than normal, and Katniss her finger itch with the need to comb them. ‘Not that you would know, you dropped from the face of the earth after we ended things..’

‘I wanted to see you, _so bad_ , but I knew you didn’t want to see me and—‘

‘I did’ he whispers, fingers drumming on the table.

Katniss just nods. ‘And yeah, I kinda stopped with the whole social network thing. Didn’t feel the need to see you live it up at Panem U-‘

‘I didn’t’ he cuts her off, again.

‘Me neither..’ she admits. ‘But I’m glad that you found someone, that you healed’ she tries to smile. ‘Proved to me I can, too’

Sadness turns into confusion on his face. ‘What?’

‘Delly’ she says, cheeks filling with heat and colour. ‘I- I saw you with her and your daughter on the street a couple of weeks ago. She looks adorable’ Katniss adds a smile, but knows it doesn't reach her eyes.

Realisation seems to dawn on him and he shakes his head. ‘Not my daughter. My _niece_ ’

‘Oh…’ she breaths, hating how relieved she feels. ‘I just assumed the three of you were a family. She looks like you’

Peeta smiles, and she can tell it's a real one. ‘She has my hair. And my love for books’ he tells proudly, and the obvious love he feels for his niece makes Katniss smile as well. This one does reach her eyes.

Katniss wants to make a joke about his little niece being a nerd just like her uncle, but they aren’t those kind of friends anymore. And they never will be again. ‘I should go’ she says and she gets up.

‘No!’ he says abruptly and he quickly gets up as well. ‘Wait, please.. I need to apologise as well. You weren’t the only one who said shit that night that wasn’t true. I was afraid as well, that you were going to cut and run, just like you had with done after Thom, with Darius.. But you were never a mistake Katniss. Never’ he promises. ‘I’m sorry I said that..’

‘We both said and did a lot of shitty things’ Katniss whispers, fingers tightening around the strap of her purse.

Peeta looks at her and she sees her own feelings reflected in his eyes. Regret, exhaustion, maybe even a little longing. ‘But what I regret the most’ he whispers after a moment of silence. ‘is not turning around when I walked to my car..’

‘I know. I should’ve gone after you, I wanted to, I just…’ she trails off.

‘I know’ he says and of course he does. They may be completely different people, but they do share some similarities - like how the both of them love people with their entire heart and soul. That, and just the plain fact that he _knows_ her. She doesn’t have to finish her sentences for him to know how they end.

‘I should go’ she says again, and he stops her, again.

‘I don’t know why you think I’ve moved on, because I haven’t, but I’m trying too as well. But before you go,’ he gulps, ‘I need to know something before I can let you go forever. Do you regret us?’

‘Never’

‘And us ending?’ he asks, nervously balling up his hand.

She has nothing to gain by lying and she has nothing to lose by being honest. ‘For three years. And probably for a long time to come..’

Without warning, Peeta closes the distance between them, cups her face with his hands and plants his lips on hers. Katniss wraps her arms around his middle and pulls him against her before she kisses him back. He tastes just like she remembers, like tea and strawberries, and his scent hasn’t changed either. Musky and manly and just – Peeta. So, _Peeta_. Loyalty and love and home; he embodies that all to her. Still.  

Katniss pulls back when an image of the doe-eyed beauty comes to mind. ‘Aren’t you dating Delly?’ she whispers, staring into his blue eyes, so he can’t hide his answer.

‘No’ and it’s not just an answer, it’s also a promise. A promise that he has no intention of doing so ever again. ‘I don’t know what you saw, but Delly and I are only acquaintances. I bumped into her on the street when I was out with Arya, my nice. That’s all’ He looked at her and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. ‘What about you? Are you seeing someone?’

Katniss shakes her head and makes him the same promise. ‘No’ and she takes his lips in his again.

Peeta swiftly lifts her onto his countertop and she pulls off his shirt with his help. He dumps his shirt on the counter next to her, now covering his glasses.

That’s when she sees it, on the right side of his chest; a tattoo. It’s a nightingale, in black and white, incredibly detailed and looking very delicate. It reminds Katniss of the necklace he gave her. Peeta watches Katniss take in his tattoo, and when her fingers softly stroke the art in his skin, he’s unable to suppress a shiver. ‘It’s beautiful’ she whispers, impressed.

‘Thank you’ he says. ‘Glimmer, Ryder's fiancé, is a tattoo artist. It really was quite the bonding exercise’ he jokes and Katniss laughs, before looking up at him again.

His body cages her and she hasn’t felt this safe in a long time. ‘Why a nightingale, though?’ she asks, and the look in his eyes becomes very vulnerable.

He’s unable to hold her gaze when he answers, and his eyes go to the wall behind her. ‘It’s symbolic. The nightingale means a lot to a lot of different people, but to me it means overcoming difficulties and suffering - being free of worldly pain. With some therapy, it gave me the strength to overcome my depression’ he admits and Katniss’s breath hitches in her throat. ‘ _We overcome darkness and radiate beauty_ ’ he quotes. ‘And it reminded me of the love you and I shared..’ he whispers.

‘The necklace’ Katniss whispers and he nods, before continuing.

‘It reminded me that there’s not only misery in the world. It’s the one thing I want to teach Arya. She deserves to grow up knowing that as well’

Katniss her cheeks are soaking wet. She puts her head on his chest, before pulling him close and kissing his neck. Peeta's arms hold her tightly as well and they silently stay like that for a long moment. They eventually start talking again, about how they want to be together, but how there are still things they need to work on before they can be happily together again. But they can work on those things together, and they decide to take things slow.

Peeta makes them some spaghetti and during dinner he tells Katniss about Arya and shows her pictures of the little girl. Katniss tells Peeta about her job and tells him about how her singing has turned into something semi-professional.

They eat, they laugh, they kiss (a lot). Katniss hasn’t felt this light since that night three years ago. They watch a movie, until she falls asleep on Peeta’s chest. She wakes up around 4am, in his bed, Peeta’s arms and scent around her, and she smiles.

Katniss knows there’s still a long road ahead of them, but she’s happy that they’re about to walk those miles. They’ll overcome the darkness and radiate beauty.

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feels? Ect.? Make me a happy lil' fic writer and share them with me :D xx
> 
> You can find me on tumblr, I'm [goldenlotusdreamer](http://goldenlotusdreamer.tumblr.com/) \- let's be friends! :D


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